Office sought: School Board, Mount Vernon District
Party Affiliation: Independent, Candidacy endorsed by Fairfax Republican
Committee
Previous offices held: PTSA Vice President (7/02-6/03)
Current employment: Homemaker, Substitute Teacher
Previous employment: Substitute Teacher, Fairfax County Public Schools
(2001-Present); Teacher, Mount Vernon Weekday School (1999-2002); Operations
Manager, Texas Instruments Incorporated (1989-1996); Financial Analyst, Texas
Instruments Incorporated (1985-1989)
Education: BS, Business Administration, Finance, University of Texas at Dallas
(1985)
Community ties: Scout Leader and volunteer, PTSA Officer and volunteer,
Volunteered on various education committees
1. What is your top public-service accomplishment?
Serving as a volunteer in my local schools; I have been a classroom volunteer for 15 years working with the teachers and students. I have served as a PTSA Officer and am currently Chairman of the Education Committee for Fort Hunt Elementary. I have worked with students after school hours while serving as a Girl Scout Leader.
2. Incumbents: Describe the top accomplishment of your last term. Why shouldn’t voters blame you for current problems in your district?
N/A
3. What are the top five problems facing your constituents and what approaches will you use to solve them? Describe one challenge (or more) in your district that is different than other parts of the county.
Budget – Reexamine the budget for waste and for money being spent on redundant programs and eliminate wasteful spending.
Test Scores – Mount Vernon District has some of the lowest standardized (SOLs and SATs) test scores in the county. We must make it our priority to institute a phonics-based curriculum and proven math programs so our students can perform up to standard.
Discipline – We are spending a huge amount of money on alternative schools and we need to make use of them by placing chronic disciplinary offenders so we can preserve instructional time and provide a sense of security for our students.
Teacher Compensation – This is a complex problem. We need to find the funds (refer to budget issues) to better compensate our educators so we can keep our excellent teachers in Fairfax County. We also need to cut back on the number of required in-services taking up precious time on teacher workdays. In addition, benefits and insurance costs should be further examined. By looking at all of the above we could have some of the highest paid and highest compensated educators in the Washington-Metro area.
Taxes – While the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors ultimately makes decisions on county tax issues, Fairfax County Public Schools accounts for over 50% of the tax budget. Most of this is from property taxes. We have an obligation to be responsible with those funds.
4. What qualities, qualifications and characteristics will you bring to this office?
My combined classroom experience of volunteering and substitute teaching with my corporate financial and management background will provide me with the unique ability to make the difficult decisions necessary to effectively utilize our taxpayer dollars to represent the Mount Vernon District on the school board.
5. How will voters best distinguish between you and your opponent(s)?
We must eliminate wasteful spending in the superintendent’s office and in the cluster offices (by making them performance-based). My opponent has stated that he merely wishes to “not expand administrative costs.”
While my opponent and I both recognize that all children learn differently, it is extremely important for them to have a solid foundation and so I support phonics and proven math programs. I want to integrate a phonics-based program with the current reading curriculum so that all children learn to read and spell. Without the use of a calculator, I want children to master the fundamentals of arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) in grades K-4.
I also want our children to feel safe while in school. Our chronic and habitual offenders whom have chosen to disrupt classroom instruction should be disciplined appropriately.
6. What is the minority achievement gap? How have the schools been successfully addressing this gap? What more can they do?
The minority achievement gap is the difference in test scores between the white and minority categories of students on standardized tests. Our schools have offered special remedial programs to address this gap. An outreach program to the parents that explains the special programs and the importance of education and high academic achievement is essential to closing this gap. We must recognize that we have done a poor job recognizing and accepting cultural differences and finding a way to educate these students more
effectively and to help them adjust to American life without feeling they are giving up their heritage. Part of this education must include the family as a whole. In addition, it is critical that we provide phonics based instruction for these students so that they master the language faster and can begin to assimilate sooner and easier.
7. What is your understanding of research studies into the effect of school size on student achievement? What are the implications for FCPS?
While school size may have some impact, most important are issues with reading and math instruction. The most costly mistake we make is not ensuring our students are learning to read, spell, and do math at the elementary level. This would eliminate the need for much of the remediation in the higher grade-levels. Also reallocating funds from administrative costs to the classroom would go a long way toward providing needed materials for instruction and still maintain an appropriate staff/student ratio.
8. What is your understanding of research studies on sleep patterns of teenagers and the implications for high school start times?
Research studies have revealed that teenagers function better with more hours of sleep than they are currently getting with the early school start times. Students in the upper grade levels tend to be sleep deprived. I support consulting with other counties that have changed start times and look at their statistics. I also support the current initiative in the western part of Fairfax County that is currently trying the later start time.
9. If reducing class size is a priority, how would you re-allocate the budget to pay for this change?
Appropriate teacher/student ratios in all grades must be a priority. However, the foundation to effective classroom function is discipline and curriculum. Regardless of class size, an effective, consistent and enforced discipline policy and instituting proven reading and math programs will help maintain an environment conducive to learning.
10. Is there “waste” in the school budget? If so, where and how much? If you can’t pinpoint precisely, in what specific area would you begin looking?
Without an effective school budget auditing process, specific areas of “wasted funds” are difficult to pinpoint. This year’s printed budget is very vague and does not list the detail of how funds are being spent. Any funds that are spent in areas outside of the direct classroom activities should be scrutinized for their value-added to educational programs. The Superintendent’s Office, Office of Community Relations, and the Cluster Offices, account for a large part of the budget, as do redundant programs. These areas require further examination. We must also provide a very detailed, printed budget for taxpayers to view so they know how we are spending their money.
11. Has the cluster director system been successful? If so, give examples. If not, what alternatives should be explored?
This layer of management has reduced direct communications between the school principals and the superintendent’s office. When the cluster offices were created, the impression of the general public was that administration would be streamlined and that the deputy superintendents would no longer exist. This did not happen. Cluster offices were simply an addition to the budget. While part of their job is to bear some of the burden of outside meetings, etc. for building principals, perhaps a better avenue would be to look at the necessity of the functions at which principals have been required to attend in the past. The function and cost effectiveness of cluster offices warrant further examination.
12. What have been the advantages and disadvantages of SOLs?
Some advantages of the SOLs are they have identified “at risk students” and “special needs” schools. Programs are now in place or have been identified as a need for improvement. Also, students are striving to achieve the best they can be since they know it is expected of them. A disadvantage is much of the SOL material being taught in the classroom is not aligned with the current curriculum.
13. Explain how No Child Left Behind sets standards on categories of students and its implications for Fairfax County schools.
The No Child Left Behind program basically states that every school has to hit the target in every one of seven categories (Black, Hispanic, Low income, Special Ed, White, Limited English Proficiency, and All) at the same time regardless of where the student population starts. So every category has to get approximately 2/3 of their student population passing English regardless of where they were last year. If a school misses one target in any one of the five indices (English achievement and participation, Math achievement and participation, Attendance/Graduation), they are a “failing school.” This
program focuses on the end-all, not on making progress towards the goal. Instituting a curriculum of phonics-based instruction and proven math programs for all children would help us meet those standards.
14. If you had an extra $1 million to spend on the school system any way you would like, how would you spend it?
Assuming that all infrastructure needs were being met, I would allocate it to the building principals, as they are the most knowledgeable of the needs of the children in their schools. The schools with the most need (based on achievement) should be allocated the highest percentage.
15. What are the hallmarks of a well-run school? Include measurable characteristics.
A well-run school is one where students and parents respect the leadership of the school. Well-run schools should also exhibit their ability to include parents, teachers, students, and community working together as a team for the good of the whole. Measurable characteristics include that of high achievement on test scores and minimal disciplinary issues.
16. What are the hallmarks of an excellent teacher? Include measurable characteristics.
An excellent teacher sets a positive example for students and creates an environment of mutual respect and motivates the children to perform to the best of their ability. This is measured through academic achievement and standardized test scores as well as the students’ ability to interact well socially with few discipline problems.
17. If you were to create your own core curriculum, what subjects would you include? Place in priority order.
1. Reading and Language Arts
2. Math
3. Science
4. Social Studies
5. Music Studies
6. Foreign Language
Music Studies and Foreign Language have not been included as core subjects in the past, but research has shown that students who participate in music studies at an early age perform better academically, especially in math. Foreign Language is an important component as we become much more global and diverse by providing expanded communication skills and better understanding of other cultures. It also reinforces basic language and grammar skills learned earlier. It is time we include them as core subjects and not something “extra” if there is time and money.
18. What are the advantages and disadvantages of public-private partnerships as they relate to Fairfax County Schools?
One advantage that partnerships bring to schools is the additional learning opportunities or resources that are not provided by the county. These partnerships could provide additional financial resources to create and/or expand much-needed programs.
A disadvantage of the partnership programs is that all partnerships are not equal resulting in inconsistent opportunities and resources across the county. We must also recognize that we cannot depend on these funds to be consistent and always available making our budget process a priority so we can reallocate funds as necessary.
19. How would you increase involvement of the general public in the public schools?
The implementation of a countywide mentoring program between the residents of the county and the schools may be an opportunity to enhance involvement. We must also open school doors during non-instruction hours to the community for meetings, night events as a community resource, especially for our senior citizens who are paying taxes to support education but do not necessarily have students in the system.
20. How would you increase parental involvement in the public schools?
With today’s environment of single parent families and two-working parent families, significant increases may be difficult to obtain. However, by opening the schools, (i.e., libraries, gymnasiums, computer rooms) for example, during the evenings, may be an opportunity to bring parents into the schools. This will also tie in to teacher compensation and budget as we may need to be more available during the evening hours for parent-teacher conferences in order to meet the changing needs or our families.
21. What additional public safety steps would you recommend in addressing gangs and violent activities on or near school property? Has the rate of violent acts increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last four years? Countywide? By pyramid in the area you live?
A zero-tolerance for gang activity within our schools should be enforced. School administration must recognize and be allowed to accurately report gang presence/activity in our schools in order for the problem to be rectified. Effective coordination between the school and local law enforcement authorities, as well as other agencies, should then be implemented to assure a safe learning environment for our children. The rate of reported assaults have remained fairly constant over the last four years, however incidents where weapons were used have increased over the last four years, as have drug and alcohol violations.
22. What school-boundary strategies could be used to address the inequity of under- and overenrolled schools within FCPS?
I would support and initiative to consult with other counties and municipalities to address this issue. The City of Alexandria is a good example. While they have limited resources and buildings, they seem to be able to change functions of buildings and redistribute students as necessary and fairly quickly and it will be interesting to see how they deal with a growing population. Other counties in the Washington-Metro area would also be good sources of information. The time to have a plan is now so we can take a more proactive approach rather than reacting to the problem of growth and population changes in certain areas. Future enrollment projections show an increase in the student population. Again, budget requirements should be addressed now for future building requirements and redistricting efforts. All schools will be operating at near or full capacity, therefore, our focus needs to be on how do we effectively manage the growing student population with minimal disruptions to our current school structure.